There are available today several different type tackle boxes for housing various type lures used in fishing. In trolling, large lures called Magnums are frequently being used. This has created a problem since in most boxes there is at best minimum space to store these large lures in a conventional tackle box. Also, even in various types of fishing, lures have a tendency to become tangled and intertwined when piled one on the other in tackle boxes. Often, it is difficult to remove the desired lure and even more often to find the lure. Also, it can be very dangerous and cumbersome in rough waters to use containers where hooks and lures are all exposed and tangled. There is a present need for a lure container to hold large lures and to house lures, large or small that can be located easily and safely removed from the container. Most fishermen want a lure container that could hold many lures, that is easy to carry and one that will permit them to easily preselect a lure with a color appropriate for their present situation.
The container of the present invention, while particularly suitable for housing lures, may be used for any general purpose desired.
There are known several multicompartment dispensing and storage containers. Some of these multicompartment containers are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,817,562; 2,903,127; 3,358,818; 4,164,301; 4,261,468 and 4,288,006.
In U.S. Pat. No. 1,817,562 (Hodge) a compartment box is disclosed for use by fishermen. This box will hold dry flies and lures and permit easy access and viewing of lures. The top portion of Hodge's compartment box is a transparent disc and permits the fisherman to view the lures and remove them. The disc is turnable so that an opening in the disc is brought into registration with one of the compartments holding the desired lure. Hodge's compartments are V-shaped and only a limited amount of them can be fitted into the circular configuration. For example, in the compartment box described and illustrated by Hodge, only eight compartments are used. In order to provide more than eight compartments in Hodge's device either the compartments would be made smaller or the circular box would be made larger. In any event, the storage space in a Hodge-type box and the number of lures that could be contained therein would never be substantial. Today, with the usage of large type Magnum lures, a box such as Hodge's would be impractical. Also, with the multitude of lures required by the average fisherman, the Hodge-type device would be totally insufficient for today's needs.
In U.S. Pat. No. 2,903,127 (Dorman) a dispensing and storage container is disclosed. Dorman's device has a rotatable cover which has an aperture cooperating with the compartments for selectively dispensing the small articles therein. As shown in the drawings of Dorman, his compartments and cover are pie-shaped, thus allowing, as the cover is rotated, access to each compartment. Dorman's device as Hodges does not admit of a plurality of compartments. Dorman's is shown as having only six compartments, totally inappropriate for lure storage.
In Davis, U.S. Pat. No. 3,358,818, a pill dispenser having tubular compartments is disclosed. In Davis four and five compartmented devices are suggested. At the top portion of the Davis device is a stem which is connected to its selector top for turning the selector top. The selector top is a disc having an opening which, when aligned with one of the compartments, allows the insertion and removal of a pill or capsule from the tube. Since the pills have a substantially small volume, the Davis-type container is appropriate but would be totally inappropriate for lures and other relatively large objects. Also, as in the other prior art patents above discussed, the space is very limited in Davis' device, only 4-5 compartments and only 4-5 lures could be housed therein. A device that could house many more lures than 4-5 compartments would be desirable. Also, the stem used in the Davis device could be a very limiting factor in expanding a Davis device to accommodate more compartments since only one side could be used as the base.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,164,301 (Thayer) as in Hodge and Dorman above discussed, a pie-shaped dispenser is disclosed. This dispenser has V-shaped compartments and a rotatable cover also having a V-shaped cutout for orientation and alignment with each compartment. The Thayer-like containers are all of limited capacity since only so many compartments can be fitted into a round pie-like configuration. Krebs, U.S. Pat. No. 4,261,468 discloses a similar dispenser to Thayer, both having V-shaped compartments in a round wheel-like structure. The spokes of this wheel-like structure define the compartments, and a rotatable top is used to gain access to each compartment. Both Thayer and Krebs have very limited capacity and would not be appropriate to house a plurality of lures or the like.
In Clover, U.S. Pat. No. 4,288,006, a tubular vitamin dispenser is disclosed. The tubular casing has V-shaped compartments therein which extend down-wardly to accommodate more vitamins. At the top of Clover's device is a cover plate rotatably mounted and having an access aperture. When the aperture is aligned with the V-shaped compartment, the vitamin can be removed for use. Here again, the limited number of compartments make Clover totally inappropriate for use as a lure container or dispenser.